RMT general secretary Mick Lynch is to retire in the spring. Mr Lynch, who is 63, will step down in May when his successor has been chosen. An electrician by trade, his railway industry career began when he joined Eurostar in 1993, having previously helped to run the Electrical and Plumbing Industries Union, which had been expelled from the TUC for making unofficial agreements which were not endorsed by other TUC unions. He said he was ‘incredibly proud’ to have served the RMT both as a rank-and-file member and an elected officer. Before he became general secretary in May 2021 as successor to Mick Cash, he had served two terms as assistant general secretary and two terms on the national executive committee. Since then he has overseen several years of troubled industrial relations, when his union staged numerous strikes over pay. He said: ‘It has been a privilege to serve this union for over 30 years in all capacities, but now it is time for change. ‘This union has been through a lot of struggles in recent years, and I believe that it has only made it stronger despite all the odds. ‘There has never been a more urgent need for a strong union for all transport and energy workers of all grades, but we can only maintain and build a robust organisation for these workers if there is renewal and change. ‘We can all be proud that our union stood up against the wholesale attacks on the rail industry by the previous Tory government and the union defeated them. ’RMT will always need a new generation of workers to take up the fight for its members and for a fairer society for all and I am immensely proud to have been part of that struggle.’

Eurostar The Prime Minister has supported calls for Eurostar to serve Ashford again, in response to a question in the Commons from Ashford’s MP Sojan Joseph. Eurostar trains have not stopped at Ebbsfleet or Ashford since the Covid pandemic, and the operator has not announced any plans to do so in the near future. Sir Keir Starmer said: ‘I know this is an issue of considerable frustration to his constituents. The decision in question is ultimately for Eurostar, but we are keen to see international services reinstated to Ashford as soon as possible and I will be happy for the Rail Minister to update him on the latest discussions.’ Metro The first new Stadler train for Tyne & Wear Metro developed a fault yesterday and was withdrawn from service, having started carrying passengers on 18 December. Nexus head of fleet and depot replacement Michael Richardson said: ‘A new Metro train was withdrawn at South Gosforth this morning, January 8, due to a technical issue. This meant that a reset of the train was required. Given where it was located, and the time of day it occurred, the train was taken out of service to minimise disruption. We’re sorry for any inconvenience caused. Unfortunately, minor issues like this are to be expected in the early stages of a rolling stock introduction programme and we learn from them.’ Repairs Major repairs to the roof at Bristol Temple Meads station have been delayed again, although 1900 individual pieces of work have been carried out so far. Network Rail said blasting grit off the roof has revealed additional defects in the exposed steelwork, and that the repairs ‘still have a fair way to go’. The project is not now expected to be finished until next year. HS2 Siemens Mobility has been awarded four contracts by HS2 Ltd worth a total of 560 million pounds. They cover Command, Control, Signalling & Traffic Management, the Engineering Management System, High voltage power supply systems (a joint venture with Costain Ltd) and Operational Telecommunications and Security Systems. Work on all these contracts is due to start this year. They include long-term maintenance agreements, and additional options are also possible.

A group which lobbies on behalf of the private sector is urging the government to make the future prospects for open access passenger services clear, after transport secretary Heidi Alexander warned on Monday that she is advising the Office of Rail and Road to ‘ensure that the benefits provided by open access operators outweigh the impacts they have on taxpayers’. Until now new operators have only been allowed if they would not abstract too much revenue from operators with government contracts and provide a genuinely new service. Train paths must also be available. Now Ms Alexander wants the ORR to consider the differences between track access charges, which tend to be lower for open access services, and the fact that such operators benefit from public investment in infrastructure. Although she conceded her letter was only advisory, she has also indicated that she is considering changes to her formal guidance. Since renationalisation of the former franchises was confirmed, transport groups have been anxious to lodge open access applications. Among these, Virgin is proposing to operate as many as 35 trains a day from London Euston to various destinations, and FirstGroup wants to run new Lumo services between London and south Devon. Lobby group Rail Partners, which has also opposed general renationalisation, is concerned that the recent enthusiasm for more open access could be reversed. Chief executive Andy Bagnall said: ‘The last 18 months have been a breakthrough period for open access operators as the benefits they bring to customers have been increasingly recognised. Open access operators create new travel opportunities especially for underserved communities, support economic growth and encourage a shift to greener transport options. They also promote fares competition and, importantly for taxpayers, they receive no government subsidy. ‘Since the UK’s general election in July, the new government has confirmed its support for open access operators in the private sector, despite its rail renationalisation agenda. It is a very positive sign that the Prime Minister personally visited the Hitachi factory in Newton Aycliffe to support a deal to manufacture new trains for FirstGroup’s open access services. ‘However, despite all the positive developments in recent months, it remains unclear whether the new government is a champion of open access operators, or it is simply tolerating them as part of the system that is too costly to nationalise. If the Government doesn’t make a positive choice to grow the sector through adequate safeguards and a fairly-adjudicated application process, it will effectively be creating the conditions for existing operators to wither on the vine. The Secretary of State’s letter to the ORR this week is a worrying signal.’ Meanwhile, the value of shares in FirstGroup has fallen back by almost 3 per cent since the transport secretary’s letter was published two days ago.

The public consultation over plans for the next stages of East West Rail restarted yesterday, having taken a break during the Christmas and New Year holiday. However, it is not yet clear when services will return to the newly-rebuilt section between Bicester and Bletchley, which was opened for test trains last October. EWR Co. has released figures showing the degree of interest that had been shown between 19 November and 13 December when it had staged ten local events, with six left for this month. The busiest event was in the village of Great Shelford, which is about 7km south of Cambridge, and which attracted 537 people, or about one in eight of the population, on 22 November. On the other hand, a similar event in the city of Oxford on 19 November was visited by only 212 people, or one person for every 770 people in the population. A total of 3136 people attended the ten events in 2024, and the remaining six are being held between 7 and 21 January. An online webinar is also taking place tomorrow (9 January). The consultation is ‘non-statutory’, and is the third of its kind since the project began, with much of the attention being focused on the section between Bedford and Cambridge. This must be rebuilt on a new alignment, because the original trackbed has been blocked by development since train services were withdrawn in January 1968. EWR Co chief executive David Hughes said: ‘Our consultation events have been attended by more than 3,000 people wanting to learn more about our updated proposals and sharing their feedback in significant numbers. ‘I have really enjoyed discussing the benefits of the new line with people at the events and hearing their views on it as this exciting project builds momentum, with passenger services between Oxford and Bletchley due to start later this year. ‘There is strong support for East West Rail and much more certainty about the project now. I would encourage people to find out more about the project by attending one of the remaining events and sharing their views to help us refine our designs further to present at our statutory consultation.’

Transport secretary Heidi Alexander has sounded a note of caution over future open access services, and has issued new advice to the Office of Rail and Road, which decides whether to grant licences. She emphasised in her letter that the formal guidance had not changed, but added that ‘I hope it will be helpful to the ORR by setting out my expectations’. Since the early days of privatisation, the main test for open access has been that a new service will not ‘abstract’ revenue from operators with government contracts, which were known as franchises until 2020. Such a loss of revenue could have cost taxpayers money, because franchise holders enjoyed a degree of commercial protection. Since Labour announced that it intended to renationalise the remaining former franchises, which now operate under National Rail Contracts, private sector owning groups have been paying much greater attention to open access opportunities, particularly as Labour had said before the July election that ‘wherever there is a case that open access adds value and capacity to the network, they will be able to continue to compete’. But Ms Alexander has now qualified this general statement of policy, saying in her letter to the ORR that: ‘I am … aware of the additional pressures new services can create on already constrained network capacity and their impact on the value secured from public investment in infrastructure. While Open Access operators pay variable access charges to Network Rail to cover the direct costs incurred running their trains on the network, unlike government contracted operators they do not fully cover the costs of fixed track access charges.’ The ORR has already granted licences to several new open access operators, but more are being considered. Naomi Horton, rail partner at law firm Ashurst, said: ‘Today’s letter from Heidi Alexander signals the requirement for ORR to apply a more stringent test for future privately run passenger rail open access services which takes into account rail network congestion, contribution to the upkeep of the infrastructure and an implied focus on bringing innovation and new markets, in addition to the current prohibition on such open access services “primarily abstracting” revenue from the franchised/public sector run services.  ‘This will be viewed with interest and possible dismay by private sector transport operators keen to continue running rail services, since, following the passing of the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act, this is the only way they can continue their passenger rail businesses.’ One open access operator, FirstGroup, has already lost Transpennine Express and is due to see its remaining contracts for South Western Railway, Great Western Railway and Avanti West Coast renationalised soon, but like other owning groups it has yet to comment. 

The immediate outlook for companies supplying the railway has remained ‘strained’ since the Labour government was elected in July, according to the Railway Industry Association. In an open letter to new transport secretary Heidi Alexander RIA has welcomed signs of progress, including the government’s support for East West Rail, the Transpennine Route Upgrade and HS2 to Euston, but it has also warned that confidence is low in the railway supply chain, and that there have been ‘significant’ job losses. RIA is asking the government to take the opportunity offered by the Treasury’s Spending Review 2025, due in the summer, to smooth out ‘boom and bust’ work cycles.  RIA chief executive Darren Caplan said: ‘Six months into the new Government and as we start a New Year, RIA is acknowledging some progress on support for major rail projects and its call last autumn for a long-term rolling stock pipeline, whilst also setting out some “offers” and “asks” to boost the confidence of the railway industry on what has been a difficult time for rail suppliers. ‘Recent confidence has been low and 2024 saw job losses among some suppliers, which is not only worrying for those involved but which also threatens to then increase the cost of work in the future. So it is vital the Government sets out a positive stall for the next 12 months. ‘We urge the Treasury Spending Review to provide clarity on long-term rates of work, whether new railway lines, rolling stock or electrification. And that, given many key rail improvements cannot wait until the establishment of Great British Railways towards the end of 2026 at the earliest, decisions on major projects, enhancements and train building and refurbishments, are brought forward to help to attract business investment.’ He added: ‘Despite recent mixed reports on north-south rail infrastructure, we are asking Heidi Alexander to look at the need to develop future north-south capacity, given forecasts show passenger numbers will grow significantly in the coming years. Further, we ask the Government to push on speedily this year with its agenda to deliver rail reform and bring “track and train” together. Given over half of rail expenditure goes through the supply chain, the supply sector should be accorded an appropriate role.’

A year-long festival of railways has started, to coincide with the 200th anniversary of the first passenger train to be hauled by a locomotive on the Stockton and Darlington Railway. This historic journey was made on 27 September 1825. The S&D also employed horses, but in 1830 the Liverpool & Manchester Railway was opened, using only locomotives. The era of horse-drawn trains was coming to an end, and the Railway Age had begun. Railway 200 will celebrate this anniversary with events throughout the United Kingdom. A nine-month international festival starting in March will also run alongside Railway 200 in north east England, to mark the Stockton and Darlington anniversary. Entitled S&DR200, this will involve events in County Durham and Tees Valley. The Royal Mint has unveiled a commemorative £2 coin, while more than 100 events have already been announced. Railnews will be launching its own celebrations with special features and R200 news through the year, including podcast items. There will also be an online exhibition recalling key events on the history of the railways, including many historic posters and other documents. Trains and locomotives in Britain and many other countries sounded their whistles and horns at midday yesterday to mark the launch of Railway 200. The ‘whistle off’ included locomotives on dozens of heritage railways as well as many at National Rail stations. Train operator LNER is among those supporting both festivals. Managing director David Horne said: ‘We have an exciting year ahead, from celebrations marking two hundred years of the modern railway to launching our additional direct services between Bradford, the UK City of Culture in 2025, and London. We look forward to supporting these celebrations, and to welcoming even more customers as our new, transformational timetable is introduced in December 2025.’ The heritage Swanage Railway joined the celebrations at 12.00 on New Year’s Day, when the whistle of a Victorian T3 class locomotive was sounded as it departed from Swanage with a passenger train. Volunteer fireman Aidan Strand said: ‘It was great to participate in the Railway 200 whistle off as was being a part of history and the legacy of railways as a whole. I doubt that two centuries ago those initial entrepreneurs, or the public, would have even considered railways powered by steam locomotives still being around 200 years on.’ Meanwhile, the Railway Industry Association celebrates its own special anniversary this year, because its original predecessor the Locomotive Manufacturers’ Association was founded in 1875. RIA said it is looking forward to launching its own ‘Future of Rail’ series this year. This will include a programme of interactive events to lead and shape some of the national discussions on the future of the railways.

The King’s New Year Honours list includes a number of railway people who have been recognised for their services to the industry and its staff. Network Rail chief executive Andrew Haines has received a knighthood, while GB Railfreight chief executive officer John Smith has received an OBE for his services to the rail freight industry. Network Rail’s Southern Region project manager Kathleen O’Malley has received a British Empire Medal for her outstanding work in creating the Routes Out of Homelessness charter for the railway, there is an MBE for Network Rail Chief Security Officer Peter Gibbons for his exceptional leadership in managing the £10 million aid programme for Ukrainian Railways, and also an MBE for human resource leader Janet Trowse, who led the Menopause Awareness Project at Network Rail. Southeastern employee Lee Woolcott-Ellis will receive a British Empire Medal for services to Mental Health in Transport. He worked with the Rail Safety and Standards Board to help rail companies promote, manage and support mental wellbeing. There is an OBE for Carolyn Griffiths, who chairs the Rail Group on the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety, for her services to the rail industry, transport safety and the engineering profession. Andrew Haines said: ‘I am incredibly honoured to receive this award. It’s not every day a boy from a comprehensive school in Merthyr Tydfil, or indeed anyone from the railway is recognised in this way, so it is immensely humbling. It’s a tribute to the work of the many thousands of people in the rail sector. ‘That's why it's a special pleasure to offer my congratulations to Kathleen, Janet and Peter for achieving recognition for the exceptional work that they have done.’

Railnews is now taking its usual break at the end of the year. We wish you a very merry Christmas and a happy 2025, and we will be back on 2 January.The last 2024 edition of the Railnews podcast will be available from tomorrow (20 December), and the next print edition of Railnews (RN335) will be published on 16 January.For now, thank you for your company in 2024. We look forward to being with you again in the New Year.

Railnews is now taking its usual break at the end of the year. We will be back on 2 January.The last 2024 edition of the Railnews podcast was published on 20 December, and the next print edition of Railnews (RN335) will be published on 16 January.For now, thank you for your company in 2024. We look forward to being with you again in the New Year.